Shangela came to play and apparently likes Game of Thrones, don't know why I know that...

Kennedy Davenport danced the house DOWN.

Trixie Mattel brought the fun and comedy.

And in the end (after some bullshit Jury shenanigans), the winner was:

Trixie Mattel, long may she reign.

There's just something about All-Star seasons... I think part of it is the change in styles. People go on Drag Race the first time to show off their talent, so to come back and have it suddenly turn into Drag Big Brother? These Queens are too media savvy to really play for the win, Morgan was the only one who was willing to speak the truth but would we as fans like the show if they eliminated the strong Queens early? Look at all the hand-wringing because Shangela wasn't in the Final Two despite THAT WAS HOW THE PRODUCERS SET UP THE GAME!!!

RuPaul's Drag Race is a competitive reality show where Drag Queens compete in a series of challenges to prove that they have the Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent to be crowned the Next Drag Superstar and win a lot of money. Episodes are pretty typical for the format: The girls complete in a mini-challenge that usually gives the winner(s) some kind of advantage, a main challenge which can be anything from building costumes to acting to putting civilians in drag, and finally a runway show. After speaking with the judges a winner is chosen who may or may not gain immunity for the following week. Meanhile, the queens deemed to be in the Bottom Two battle it out in the Lip Sync... For Your Life! Ru judges the LSFYL and the loser goes home.

This year, VH-1 has said that all episodes are going to be 90 minutes long... FINALLY. All-Stars 3 really showed how 60 minute episodes can hamstring the format because there's not enough free room for misc. things. Give me drama, give me Ru in the work room, give me randomness. I NEED THIS.

We can nitpick the show all we like but it's a joy to watch. The important thing to keep in mind is that these girls are professional Drag Queens. They know how to speak, put on a show, throw shade, and give us the cutting one-liners in the confessionals that we expect.

Just getting cast is the victory because it means that for the next year those Queens are going to be in high demand. It's up to them to capitalize on it, but making it on the show is a great boost to their career. We don't have to worry about people being exploited for bad TV, because all of these Queens should know what they are doing at this point.

Challenges include:
- The Snatch Game, a take off of the classic TV show Match Game
- The Library, whereupon the queens read each other to filth (in a structured format, they do that in an unstructured format all the time) Last All-Stars they did the Library as the first challenge
- Singing challenges
- Group choreography
- Dress construction
- Acting challenges
- Makeup challenges
- Makeovers for non-drag queens
- Hot guys in underwear
- Etc.

In the couple of years they've gone away from the "shoot a RuPaul music video" final challenge to writing/recording/performing individual verses for Ru song. Much more palatable, and occasionally we get gold like "I'm Roxxxy Andrews and I'm here to make it clear."

Last season, they changed the rules of the Finale and had the Top 4 Queens LSFYL in a bracket to crown the winner. Much better, and I hope that they keep the format. This is how the show should end, and I'd love to see how the Queens handle the show knowing that might be in store for them. (I also ache for the day where some Queen makes it to the end and completely overdoes it.)

There's also RuPaul's Drag Race Untucked, which shows conversations between the Queens as they await the results of the judging. They gone to a much more relaistic style, and I think the show is better for it. VH-1 has said that they will be showing Untucked after the main show, so that means we get two hours of prime Drag Race action each week!

On Spoilers

Fortuantely, there are no major leaks that I know of but then again I stay off of Reddit. Just be aware that fans are crazy about the show, and once the episode is aired for reviews the day of broadcast you can easily find the results. Watch yourself and be careful out there. As always, if you can't watch live on Thursdays then stay off of social media until you have a chance to catch up if you are a spoilerphobe like me.

The Judges

RuPaul Charles

quote:

Trixie: She always says that she remembers all, like, the weird stuff but she doesn't remember, like, this morning...Bob the Drag Queen: She's like "So you mean back in 1994 when I ran into Suzanne Barge at the Dwayne Reed on 57th and 6th and she was buying a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos and I had an Arizona Tea right before the green- it was a honey, green tea with honey" and then someone's like "Um, your sister's here, like your sister, Angela." "Angelo who?" Your loving sister, RuPaul!
- The Unhhhh Panel, New York DragCon 2017

The leader of the merry bunch, we thank Ru year after year for coming up with the tasty weekly confection that is RuPaul's Drag Race. What else is there to say?

Okay, let's be real. The winner of the show is picked by Ru. The person who is kicked off each week is picked by Ru. This is Ru's baby. It exists to give glory to Ru and help sell her albums (now on iTunes). You thought it was bad to ignore Tim Gunn? DON'T IGNORE RU.

The rest of the main judges:

Michelle Visage

(That picture still is everything forever.)

Every once in a while I remember that Michelle wasn't an original judge on the show and I have to pause and collect my wits. The show started to take off once Michelle replaced Merle. Coincidence?

If Ru is the Mother, then Michelle is the stern Aunt. Michelle wants all of the queens to reach their potential, so she's willing to be harsh but it always comes from a place of live. She's been friends with RuPaul forever, co-hosted with Ru on her VH1 talk show, has been a more than welcome addition to the judging panel since the third season, and is the one who really goes on the road with the queens to help push the brand. She's fabulous.

Something I noticed in the previous thread is that some people seem to really have a fixation in picking queens to hate. It's weird to me because it's so outside the spirit of the real life drag scene. I can't tell if it's just the effect reality shows have on people or if it's straight fans trying to larp a stereotype of a bitchy gay person, but either way it skeeves me out. Drag is love.

I honestly can't think of any Ru girl I would say I hate. It's hard to think of one I even just dislike, other than maybe Sasha Velour tbh. I guess I disliked Thorgy on her season but it was more like I found her annoying.

I honestly can't think of any Ru girl I would say I hate. It's hard to think of one I even just dislike, other than maybe Sasha Velour tbh. I guess I disliked Thorgy on her season but it was more like I found her annoying.

Thorgy just makes me sad because her anxieties rule her. I think PhiPhi is the canonical "villain queen" but even her nasty traits come from insecurity and I can't hate that, just enjoy the hilarious results.

Eureka''s fine but in S9 was the epitome of a filler queen, someone who's not a definite first boot but would have to get lucky to break into the top 3. her aesthetics to me look a bit tacky and art-less i suppose? but at the same time:

I honestly can't think of any Ru girl I would say I hate. It's hard to think of one I even just dislike, other than maybe Sasha Velour tbh. I guess I disliked Thorgy on her season but it was more like I found her annoying.

deep down, this is pretty much my feeling on all of the competitors rupaul's drag race. in season 1 or 2, ru said something like, "you go to a club in lipstick and a dress, you're already my hero" and that's pretty much what i reckon.

I figured it would continue into this thread anyway, just feelin' my weird sad oats.

I think people should just use spoiler tags. I've watched the first two episodes, but it's not easily watchable, and people in the last thread were pretty loose with spoilers. It's not like the thread for The Expanse where people flipped out on the idea that the proper use of spoiler tags were spoiler enough. If people want to talk about how hot Pangina is, then go ahead and talk about it. But talking about boots and looks, throw some tags on it.

I think that she's just an incredibly basic small town queen who had some minor beef with Trinity Taylor that was played up by the producers. Had she not been injured, I don't think she would have been invited back for a subsequent season. She would have been booted out by Snatch Game at the latest. I suspect she will be like Cynthia Lee Fontaine who will come back and prove to be not all that exciting on a second try.

Something I noticed in the previous thread is that some people seem to really have a fixation in picking queens to hate. It's weird to me because it's so outside the spirit of the real life drag scene. I can't tell if it's just the effect reality shows have on people or if it's straight fans trying to larp a stereotype of a bitchy gay person, but either way it skeeves me out. Drag is love.

I get the impression that this thread is mostly queer, unlike the subreddit which is probably 95% straight white women. I've never gotten the vitriol that Thorgy gets. You said in a lower post that she is clearly ruled by her anxiety. I think she's a talented, intelligent queen whose anxiety and dreads get in her way.